CHICO — Tuesday evening’s meeting of the Chico City Council provided an encapsulation of the city over the past few years.
Attendees from years past experienced deja vu as they approached the chambers building, with a half-dozen tents and twice that many people laid out on the lawn along Fourth Street. The scene was reminiscent of COVID-era camping at the municipal center and City Plaza — though the latter is fenced off, flashing back to the past three winters, as Public Works prepares for Wildcat Weekend.
Anticipating the event, coming Friday through Sunday, most councilors and city staff dressed in Chico State garb. The audience of 75 saw that in person after making their way through the new security scanner in the chambers’ lobby.
The meeting coincided with the vice-presidential debate, and the agenda was short — by coincidence, it turns out — in the vein of the biennial election night meetings.
As if all that weren’t enough harkening, the main item of business involved development of a special planning area, albeit Bell-Muir instead of Valley’s Edge. Councilors also heard about community choice aggregation for electricity, an effort that stalled during the pandemic.
Housing
The council had first addressed Bell-Muir, the 398-acre SPA in northwest Chico, on Feb. 20 by greenlighting the Orchard Creek Estates subdivision at East and Nord avenues — and took the next step April 16, voting to remove the SPA designation, annex the area and zone it low-density residential.
For this meeting, the Community Development Department asked the council for a general plan amendment to take Bell-Muir off the SPA list and, in conjunction, approve Autumn Leaf Estates.
Located just north of Orchard Creek Estates, currently under constriction, Autumn Leaf Estates would encompass 20 acres at Nord and Henshaw avenues. Epick Homes plans a 68-lot subdivision for single-family housing — with a density of 3.4 units per acre — and to dedicate a half-acre parcel for stormwater retention. The Planning Commission unanimously recommended approval Sept. 5.
Councilors held back-to-back public hearings: on the SPA dissolution and the project, then on annexing the property into the city.
“There’s not a lot more projects that can come about,” planner Mike Sawley explained — only parcels contiguous to ones in the city could qualify for annexation. Others would develop under county standards. The zoning would be low-density residential.
“Any other development in Bell-Muir would be a long way away after capital improvements,” he added.
The site of the proposed Autumn Leaf Estates subdivision sits in the Bell-Muir area, north of the Orchard Creek Estates project under construction, on Monday, Sept. 30, 2023 in Chico, California. (Evan Tuchinsky/Enterprise-Record)
Developer Chris Giampaoli, who’s also building one-acre homes in Bell-Muir under county zoning, said nearby subdivisions have similar density to Autumn Leaf Estates. “They’re bigger lots than you usually see in infill development around,” he said, and the design also “should fit in with the existing neighborhood.”
Henshaw Park, currently in the design phase, would be to the east; Giampaoli said fees from the subdivision would help defray the cost for Chico Area Recreation and Park District to maintain it. CARD general manager Annabel Grimm expressed the district’s support of the development.
Seven other speakers addressed the council — three in favor of the SPA dissolution and the project, four concerned if not outright opposed. Neighbor John Dunbar said he hadn’t found any Bell-Muir property owner who liked the changes unless they planned to sell and leave. Commercial realtor Austin Barron, who called himself “a lover of housing,” countered that “we need to build to suit our population, and this is doing just that.”
Councilor Sean Morgan, whose district includes Bell-Muir, seconded Tom van Overbeek’s motion to approve but asked city engineers to assess a traffic light at Guynn and East avenues if not at Nord.
“Let’s not let (seeking something) perfect stop us from moving forward,” Vice Mayor Kasey Reynolds said. Six colleagues agreed, with the lone dissenting vote coming from the councilor who opposed the previous two actions, Addison Winslow.
After a brief break called by Mayor Andrew Coolidge, Reynolds took over mayoral duties and presided over the second public hearing. Barron was the lone speaker, again advocating for the project. Van Overbeek promptly moved to approve, Deepika Tandon seconded, and it passed 6-0 with Coolidge absent.
Power
The same day the Oroville City Council reviewed a feasibility study that recommended joining a growing community choice aggregator, the same organization made a presentation to Chico councilors.
Pioneer Community Energy explained the process for local governments to procure power for their residents. Pioneer previously addressed the Butte County Board of Supervisors as well as Oroville’s council and the town of Paradise.
Including other interested communities, a local launch would double Pioneer’s customer base. Chico first would need to exit Butte Choice Energy, a joint powers authority that the city joined in 2019 and planned to roll out service in 2023.
“You still get a PG&E bill, but the CCA buys the energy,” explained Lisa DeLaby, Pioneer’s community outreach manager, noting that PG&E maintains the grid that conveys the power. Communications director Gina Stassi-Vanacore said savings are currently 7% over PG&E’s rates, though with the utility’s pattern of increasing rates, she expects that figure to widen.
“We can make this work,” Stassi-Vanacore said, starting in October 2027. “The one question that is outstanding is whether we can launch everybody at once or have a phased-in approach.”
Pioneer aims to return to the council in January with further details.
Other business
• Public comment again provided dramatics, with three of the first four speakers tangling with Coolidge over whether their topics fell within the jurisdiction’s authority. The mayor gaveled the meeting to a close the first two times, and both were escorted from chambers — one for the second straight meeting. The fifth speaker, noting she hadn’t attended a council meeting anywhere before, said: “First of all, wow!”
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• City Manager Mark Sorensen said the security system should be fully functional with police operating the scanner at the Oct. 15 meeting.
• In a discussion requested by Councilor Dale Bennett, the council decided to endorse Proposition 36, a November ballot measure on criminal penalties, via a letter of support. “This corrects some unintended consequences,” Chief Billy Aldridge told councilors, “and I look forward to this passing.” Approval of the letter came on a 5-1 vote with Winslow opposed.
• Bennett requested to agendize a discussion of how to allocate cannabis funds; he proposed putting the money to a new fire station and police headquarters. Tandon seconded, and it carried unanimously.
• Winslow requested a discussion of the city enforcing tenant protections. Morgan seconded, and it also passed 6-0.
• Closed session consisted of updates on three legal matters, including Warren v. Chico and Rushing v. Chico; scheduled labor negotiations were postponed. Councilors gave direction to counsel but took no final action on the cases.
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